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 Clematis
Layering is probably one of the easiest ways to propagate a shrub. Just bend a long stem down to the ground. Wound it slightly where it touches the ground by scraping away a bit of the bark on the bottom of the stem. Dig a small trench. It doesn’t have to be deep. The stem can be partly above ground. Secure the stem at the trench with large staples made from coat hangars or put a brick or rock on it to weight it down and keep it from moving. Next fall, check for roots. After the roots have formed, cut the stem from the main plant. You now can move or pot up your brand new shrub. Some easy to layer plants: Hydrangea macrophylla, forsythia, kerria, azalea, buddleia, and mockorange. Division is another easy way to make more plants. Most perennials at some time in their life will need to be divided. Blooms decline if the cluster gets too old and overgrown. The centers of the plant clump can die, since the root overcrowding cuts down on water and nutrients these older roots receive. Bulbs, corms, and fleshy roots are easy to divide. Plants easy to propagate by division:  Crocosmia
Softwood cuttings are a little more difficult but once you learn by trial and error, you will find there is really no mystery involved. Cuttings are taken in the summertime, after the new growth on trees and shrubs has stiffened. You can use cuttings just a few inches long, or much longer, up to about 8 inches. The longer the cutting, the larger your end plant will be. Take cuttings early in the morning when your shrub or tree is the least stressed. Immediately either pot them up or put them in water if you are taking several. Make your cuts on the diagonal. Cut off any ends that are floppy or are easily bent. Cut any leaves down by half or remove the leaves entirely. I prefer to remove the leaves. They can be a source of mildew under plastic and they don’t serve any purpose in the rooting process. This sounds silly, but sometimes it can be difficult to determine which way is up, especially after you have cut off any limp ends and all of the leaves. Make sure you know which way is "down". Cuttings will not root if you plant them upside down. There are three types of rooting compound: Perlite, vermiculite, or soilless mix. If the cutting is green wood, just dip the end in rooting hormone and plant it in a small pot with the medium of your choice. If it has bark, then wound the bottom of the stem for about a half inch up the stem, by slightly scraping off the bark (just to the inner green area). Then dip it in the rooting hormone and pot it up.  Azaleas
Check for roots after a couple of months by gently tugging on the cutting. If you feel resistance, then roots have formed. Sometimes eager little cuttings will leaf out before their roots form, so don’t be fooled. Do a tug test. Once roots have formed, remove the plastic cover. Give it a week or two to adjust to the open air and then transplant the little newbie into a larger pot with a good grade of potting mix. Wait to fertilize until the following spring. You don’t want to force new growth before a frost or freeze, which could kill the whole plant. If you live in an early winter area, you can leave the cuttings outdoors over winter in their little greenhouse. In either case, pile some mulch around the pots, with or without their plastic cover. Come spring, after all danger of frost or freeze, fertilize and continue to transplant and increase the pot size as they outgrow their space. Once your plants have reached a gallon size, you can plant them out into your landscape. Plants to propagate by softwood cuttings: Any of the plants listed above that are easy to layer, roses, cotoneaster, lilac, boxwood, clematis, fig, lorapetalum, hollies and even some perennials, like salvia guaranitica. A word about copyrighted and patented plants. You may not propagate patented plants in any way. Registered and/or trademarked plants refer only to the name. You can propagate them by cuttings, but not use the registered or trademarked name. You can use the cultivar name, however, the one in single quotes, as long as it isn’t trademarked or registered also. An excellent short description of how to tell the difference is at this website: http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/gl_plants_propagation/article/0,,HGTV_3611_1397126,00.html ---Posted by Coach Anne, April 17, 2008---
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